Mississippi Legislature fails to move to further cannabis policy reform in 2024

There were bright hopes for Mississippi Legislature reforming cannabis policies in 2024 — and restoring the ballot initiative process. But they were shot down.

The state implemented a comprehensive medical cannabis program in 2023 and upwards of 35,000 patients are now participating after a little over a year of operations. There was hope that an “omnibus” bill, SB2922, would have expanded the program in 2024, but the legislation died in committee.

Other criminal justice-related bills, including strengthening Mississippi’s decriminalization bill, decriminalizing paraphernalia, legalization, and expungement all died the same week. To move criminal justice reform it is key your legislators hear from you that makes ending cannabis prohibition a priority moving forward.

Meanwhile, legislation to restore the voter initiative process — which is the only reason Mississippi has a medical cannabis law — has been defeated. A Senate bill (SB 2770) would have required a staggering 67% supermajority of votes cast for any voter initiative. Meanwhile, the House version — House Concurrent Resolution 11 — would have included numerous limitations on what can be put on the ballot, and requires the signatures of at least 8% of voters. Both bills died.

The road to Mississippi becoming the 37th medical cannabis state

On February 2, 2022, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed into law the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act (SB 2095), sponsored by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, to restore voters’ will by creating a medical cannabis program.

Both chambers passed the bill by veto-proof margins in one of the largest vote margins in history. A summary of the law can be found here.

On November 3, 2020, 69% of Mississippi voters cast their ballots in favor of enacting a medical cannabis program. On that same ballot, 74% voted for a broad program — Initiative 65 — while rejecting a far more restrictive alternative lawmakers had placed on the ballot, Initiative 65A. Subsequently, the state Supreme Court found that the state’s signature requirements for ballot measures could not be complied with and threw out not only Initiative 65, but also the entire state’s ballot initiative process.

SB 2095 reflects an attempt to create a middle ground between the extremely restrictive approach some legislators and the governor favor and voters’ strong preference for a broad measure. The first medical cannabis sales began less than a year after it was signed into law, in January 2023.

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Did you know Mississippi is a “decrim” state?

Mississippi is one of the 31 states that have decriminalized — or, in 23 cases, legalized — personal-use cannabis possession. First offense possession of 30 grams (a little more than an ounce) is punishable by a $250 fine instead of jail time and a civil summons as opposed to arrest, as long as the offender provides proof of identity and a written promise to appear in court. However, Mississippi’s cannabis law has a gaping loophole: possession of paraphernalia — such as the baggie cannabis is in — remains a criminal offense punishable by up to six months.

Meanwhile, data indicates that Mississippi’s cannabis laws are not being evenly enforced. A recent study by the American Civil Liberties Union found that although Black and white individuals use cannabis at nearly identical rates, Black Mississippians are 2.7 times more likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis possession.

Please write your state legislators to ask them to end cannabis prohibition in Mississippi and replace it with a taxed and regulated system, as 23 other states have done.

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